Austin Learns to Swim
by wimpykidfan37
Summary: Okay, so this is just the children's book "Last One in is a Rotten Egg" but with Backyardigans characters.


Uniqua and Pablo were sitting in their backyard.

"What a hot day," said Uniqua.

"Too hot to play tag," said Pablo.

"Too hot to play catch," said Uniqua.

"Too hot to play SOCCER!" roared Pablo.

"Too hot to do anything," said Uniqua. She was sweating like a pig in Australia.

Just then, Pablo thought of something. "It's not too hot to go swimming!"

Uniqua thought that was a great idea. "I'm a great swimmer, if I do say so myself. What about you, Pablo?"

Pablo laughed. "Have you forgotten you are talking to Pablo the Swift?"

Just then, Austin showed up. "What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Pablo and I are going swimming," said Uniqua. "Want to join us?"

Austin could not swim yet, but he did not want to let his friends down. So, he accepted.

"Then it's settled!" said Pablo. The three friends ran into the backyard. As they ran, the backyard turned into a small swimming pool.

At the pool, Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin, now wearing bathing suits, saw many old friends; Sherman the worman and his brother Herman, Boinga the Martian and her mother.

Just then, the three friends heard a voice. "Rule number two!" It was Tyrone, the lifeguard. He was pointing at a sign on the wall. Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin looked at the sign.

It said: "Rule number one: no kicking other people into the pool. Rule number two: no running on the pool deck. Rule number three: no entering the deep end unless you can actually swim." There were lots of other rules, but it was rule number three that caught Austin. He realized he had to stay in the shallow end.

"Last one in the pool is a rotten egg!" shouted Uniqua. She jumped into the deep end of the pool.

"Not me!" shouted Pablo. He jumped in after Uniqua.

Austin realized that he was the rotten egg. He walked to the other end of the pool and jumped into the shallow end with the wormans and the Martians.

Austin was safe from drowning, but he was slightly bored. On the other end of the pool, Uniqua and Pablo seemed to be having a blast. But there was only so much fun Austin could have with wormans and Martians.

After a few minutes, Uniqua and Pablo swam to the shallow end. "Want to race us to the deep end?" asked Uniqua.

Austin did not want to confess his inability to swim, but he did not want to drown, either. "Uh…I'll be the starter," he said. He climbed out of the pool. "On your mark…get set…go!"

Austin walked along the pool deck as the other two raced to the other end. The wormans and the Martians watched the race too. Uniqua reached the deep end five seconds before Pablo did.

"Maybe I'm the slower swimmer," said Pablo, "but maybe I can do a better dive than you!"

"I betcha, I betcha, I betcha you can't!" shouted Uniqua.

"I betcha, I betcha, I betcha I can!" replied Pablo. "I'm a penguin after all." He did a perfect swan dive, while Uniqua did a perfect cannonball.

Austin sat on the edge of the pool and watched his friends horsing around. "I wish I could swim," he said softly to himself.

He looked at the other side of the pool and saw another familiar face. A giant robot was kicking Sherman into the pool. Then he kicked Boinga into the pool. Then he walked around to Austin's side of the pool.

"In you go!" shouted the robot, although it sounded more like "Cheese." He kicked Austin into the deep end.

Now Austin's secret was exposed. He bobbed up and down about twice or thrice before someone grabbed his hand.

It was Tyrone, the lifeguard. He pulled Austin out of the pool. Uniqua and Pablo were standing next to Tyrone.

"Have you forgotten rule number three," joked Tyrone, "or are you trying to drink all the water?" Pablo laughed, but Austin did not find it funny at all.

"It's not my fault," said Austin. "A giant robot kicked me into the pool." The four of them looked around the pool, but the robot had gone.

Austin did not want to be at the pool anymore, so he, Uniqua, and Pablo walked home together.

The next day, Uniqua and Pablo asked Austin if he wanted to go swimming with them, and Austin said, "No thanks," for he was afraid of the robot. So Uniqua and Pablo went swimming without Austin.

The next day, they asked the same thing, and he replied the same thing.

The next day, Uniqua told Austin, "If you learn to swim, you will be able to swim with us and you won't need to worry about when the robot kicks you into the pool." So, this time, Austin went to the pool with Uniqua and Pablo.

The wormans and the Martians were back at the pool, but, fortunately, no giant robots.

"Nice to have you back, Austin," said Tyrone. "Now don't drink any of the water." Pablo and Uniqua laughed, and even Austin gave a small chuckle.

"Last one in the pool is a rotten egg!" shouted Uniqua, and she and Pablo jumped into the deep end.

"I want to be able to swim, like Uniqua and Pablo," Austin told Tyrone as they walked to the shallow end.

"I'm much obliged to teach you," said Tyrone. "You learned to whistle, you learned to be a dragon jock, and you even learned to make pie like a samurai. Let's work on your stroke first."

Austin jumped into the shallow end. "Move your arms like this," said Tyrone, and Austin copied him.

The next day Austin worked on his kick. "Move your legs like this," said Tyrone, and Austin copied him.

The days went by and Austin got better and better at swimming. Finally, one day, Tyrone told Austin, "The time has come for you to swim to the deep end." Uniqua and Pablo gaped in astonishment as Austin swam all the way to the deep end. The three friends had a wonderful time playing together.

Just then, Pablo saw someone he knew. "Hey, Austin," he said, "isn't that the giant robot that kicked you into the pool?"

Indeed, the giant robot was back to his old tricks. He kicked Sherman and Boinga into the pool. Austin, Uniqua, and Pablo climbed out of the pool.

The robot saw Austin. "Are you gonna stop me?" he asked, although it sounded more like "Cheese."

Tyrone marched onto the scene. "Maybe he won't," he said, "but maybe I will. Rules number one and number six." He pointed at the list of rules.

It said: "Rule number one: no kicking other people into the pool. Rule number six: no giant robots."

"Don't come back," ordered Tyrone. The robot left the pool.

"Last one in the pool is a rotten egg!" shouted Austin.

"Not me!" Pablo and Uniqua shouted together.

Tyrone watched as the other three jumped into the pool at exactly the same time. "Well," he said, "there certainly aren't any rotten eggs among you three. Either that or you're all rotten eggs."

Just then, a loud growl was heard. "Did the robot come back?" asked Pablo.

"No," said Austin. "All that learning to swim made me hungry."

Tyrone invited the others to his house for some eggs. "Hopefully no rotten ones," said Uniqua.

Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin all climbed out of the pool and ran across the deck. Even Tyrone forgot rule number two for a moment as the pool turned back into the backyard.

Back in their regular clothes, the four friends stopped in front of Tyrone's house. "That was an excellent swimming adventure," said Tyrone. "Don't you think?" The others all agreed. Then they all sang:

"We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore. Now it's time for us to have a snack. Meet you next time, when we're back with your friends, the Backyardigans!"

Then they all entered Tyrone's house and closed the door behind them. Austin opened the door and said, "I can swim!" Then he closed the door again.

P.S. Rules number four and number five were respectively "no wormans" and "no Martians".


End file.
